"Pornography: Top Of Chu View”

2 Samuel 11:2-5 (ESV)

29 March 2009

Fifth Sunday in Lent

U.S. Army Chaplain (MAJ) Ken Harris

Fortress Chapel

Contingency Operation Site (C.O.S.) Sykes

Tall-afar, Iraq

BIG IDEA: Many members of the US military desire to have clean hearts, but unknowingly struggle with pornographic addiction.

REFERENCES: Exodus 20:14 ESV (The sixth commandment) You shall not commit adultery; Deuteronomy 5:18 (ESV) And you shall not commit adultery; Leviticus 20:10 ESV If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death; Proverbs 14:12 (ESV) There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death; Psalm 51:1-12 ESV (David’s Psalm of Penitence – Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God); 2 Samuel 11:2-13 ESV (The Sin of Pornography leads to the Sin of Adultery); 2 Sam 11:14-25 ESV (The Sin of Adultery leads to the Sin of Murder); 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 ESV (Flee sexual immorality) Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body; Matthew 5:27-28 ESV (Lust) You have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart ; Job 31:1-2 CEV (Contemporary English Version) I promised myself never to stare with desire at a young woman. God All-Powerful punishes men who do that; 1 John 1:9 (God is Light) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness; Hebrews 13:4 ESV (Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous); Romans 12:1-3 ESV (I Beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God); Matthew 12:34b ESV (… For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks); Psalm 119:9-11 ESV (How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you; 1 Corinthians 5 (Sexual Immorality in the church is to be dealt with decisively by the Christian community); Psalm 32:5-6 (A Special Psalm of David – The Joy of Forgiveness) I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin;

I. ANNOUNCE THE PERICOPE: Psalm 51:1-4; 7-10 (ESV);

2 Samuel 11:2-5 (ESV)

II. READ THE PERICOPE: Psalm 51:1-4; 7-10 (ESV); 2 Samuel 11:2-5 (ESV)

III. READ THE TEXT: Psalm 51:10 (ESV) create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

IV. PURPOSE: To provoke the hearers to affirm to others that many US Military members desires to have clean hearts, but unknowingly struggle with PORNOGRAPHIC ADDICTION.

V. SERMONIC THEME: “PORNOGRAPHY: Top of CHU View”

VI. INTRODUCTION:

The Greek Word for “Sexually Immoral” is “Porn-os” from which we get the word – Pornography.

Porn-os … usually refers to “women”; “relations outside of marriage”; and often a professional prostitute.

All of which are forbidden by God.

The Good Book says in Job 31:1-2 (in the Contemporary English Version) I promised myself never to stare with desire at a young woman. God All-Powerful punishes men who do that.

Jesus, himself, said in Matthew 5:27-28 ESV: You have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery.

But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart;

Now, my brothers and my sisters, today (as you may recall), is the Fifth Sunday in LENT.

LENT is observed by Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and many other churches of the Christian faith.

Lent in the Christian Religion is an Annual Season of fasting and penitence.

It is a time when many Soldiers give-up things they have come to love in order to become stronger spiritually.

In other words, Lent represents giving up something while remorsefully reflecting upon sins you have committed. The Lent Season begins on Ash Wednesday and last for 40 Weekdays to Easter.